Seriously Geeky Sundays – Cosplay

Oh my goodness, a new WordPress editor, that keeps telling me I’m not allowed to edit this post, brilliant! Let’s be rebels, stick it to the man and carry on editing it anyway huh, what’s it gonna do?

Ahem. Anyway, here we are once more the weekend’s greatest writing exercise, Seriously Geeky Sundays, created and run by the almighty Heather from her throne over at Just Geeking By! As always, thank you Heather for rustling up this challenge and, dear reader, please do check out all of the other writers who join in under the #SeriouslyGeekySundays hashtag, because most of them are far better than I!

So, this week’s post is all about cosplay. I admit, I don’t know a whole lot about the subject and have never partaken myself, so this will be a… rather interesting post, to say the least. First off, according to the dictionary, what does cosplay mean?

“the hobby of dressing as and pretending to be a character from a film, TV programme, comic book, etc.”

Ah, nice one Cambridge Dictionary. But I’m willing to bet that this description just doesn’t do the artform justice. I’ve seen some cosplayers and creators of cosplay gear online where it somehow transcends “dressing up” and becomes… something special! Anyway, here’s the briefing for today:

“It’s international Cosplay Day this weekend and we’re joining in the celebrations by chatting about all things cosplay!“

Question 1 – Have you cosplayed before? If yes, which character was your favourite? If no, which character would you like to cosplay as?

Well, as mentioned previously, I haven’t ever cosplayed. I have done fancy dress for New Year’s Eve parties, but I think comparing this to cosplay may be a bit of an insult to cosplayers the world over! Yep, I’ve cobbled together such outfits as Generic Soviet Soldier, the Terminator and Escape From New York’s Snake Plissken.

So, if I were to go full cosplay, I would like to revisit the Snake Plissken look, full 80s Kurt Russell, with mullet and submachine gun with gigantic silencer!

Question 2 – What Does Cosplay Mean to You?

From my very limited experience, Cosplay means folk who are passionate about their favourite characters from geekdom get to create, and of course wear, their unique and often eye-catching outfits. But it seems to be more than that, as there is a massive culture surrounding this hobby too, bringing people together to exchange hints, tips and, of course, photographs of epic creations.

It’s all very cool.

Question 3 – Do You Have a Favourite Cosplayer?

Not really, I’m afraid! I know a few on Twitter but not entirely sure if they’d appreciate being tagged into this post, so I’ll refrain! But if you want to find some extremely talented people then why not take a look through my Twitter follows?

Question 4 – What is the Most Unique Cosplay You Have Ever Seen?

These guys!

Nah, I’m joking, there’s as many of that lot in the cosplay scene as there are aboard the Death Star! The most unique look I have seen is probably that famous Transformer one, where the guy somehow manipulates his cardboard getup from robot to truck whilst he’s wearing it!

So damn clever!

Question 5 – Have you ever done a casual cosplay (aka everyday cosplay) or  Disney bounding?

Yep, I had to look these up!

So, the answer is no, I’m afraid. Well, not deliberately anyway! I have a bomber jacket which makes me look like The Rocketeer, so manybe that counts? I mean I don’t have the helmet or, you know, jetpack… but it was along those lines!

Question 6 – Pick a Group of Characters From a Fandom and Tell Us Who They Would Cosplay As!

This is a really interesting question!

For my mashup of choice I’m going with the cast of Final Fantasy VII and some classic Star Wars… who would be who?

Well, Cloud would have to be Luke Skywalker, I suppose. Tifa is fiery enough to pull off the Leia look, Cid would make a good Han Solo, being a grizzled pilot and all, Red XIII could be a kind of Chewbacca… Cait Sith as R2D2 (a bit far fetched, but worth a try… maybe he could sit in a bin?) Vincent would do well as Darth Vader, being all edgy and all.

I’m having trouble finding roles for Barret, Aeris, and Yuffie… maybe they could be stormtroopers!

Phew, that was a tough entry! Even if I’m not super clued up about cosplay, I have to admit it’s a fascinating subject and corner of geekery! Thank you for joining us once again and I look forward to seeing you next time!